10 Secrets To Success

In what has become a bit of a year end/new year beginning tradition, I offer you this.  So simple, yet filled with common sense... I like to say this sounds just like advice my father would have given me, for business and personal life... I wish you outrageous success in 2010 and beyond... ~Bill Faulkner

10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS

1. HOW YOU THINK IS EVERYTHING
    Always be positive. Think success, not failure. Be aware of a negative environment.
2. DECIDE UPON YOUR TRUE DREAMS AND GOALS
    Write down your specific goals and develop a plan to reach them.
3. TAKE ACTION
    Goals are nothing without action. Don’t be afraid to get started. Do it.
4. NEVER STOP LEARNING
    Go back to school. Read books. Get training and acquire skills.
5. BE PERSISTENT AND WORK HARD
    Success is a marathon, not a sprint. Never give up.
6. LEARN TO ANALYZE DETAILS
    Get all the facts, all the input. Learn from your mistakes.
7. FOCUS YOUR TIME AND MONEY
    Don’t let other people or things distract you.
8. DON’T BE AFRAID TO INNOVATE; BE DIFFERENT
    Following the herd is a sure way to mediocrity.
9. DEAL AND COMMUNICATE WITH PEOPLE EFFECTIVELY
    No person is an island. Learn to understand and motivate others.
10. BE HONEST AND DEPENDABLE; TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
    Otherwise, numbers 1 to 9 won’t matter.

Business confidence slowly rising in New Hampshire

Business confidence slowly rising

N.H. businesses look to keep level work force

 

By Michael McCord

SeacoastOnline.com

news@seacoastonline.com

December 28, 2009 2:00 AM

A recent survey revealed that, while business confidence is growing, a majority of New Hampshire companies plan to keep employment numbers level in 2010.

Sponsored by the Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire, the December report showed that 48 percent of businesses expect economic conditions to improve next year, while 31 percent expect them to stay the same and 16 percent expect them to get worse.

Year End Business Tax Tips

It is always my intent to provide you with information and services that put you at an advantage in business.  To that end, I am attaching information from Charles Davis, a trusted tax advisor.  Read through this information when you have time, I hope it helps... if you contact Charles, please be sure to let him know I sent you!  ~bf

December 31^st is approaching fast and time is running out to take advantage of 2009 tax planning opportunities. If you make estimated tax payments to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, make your 4^th quarter payment on or before the 31^st. And while you may not associate December 31 with taxes, it’s the deadline to take advantage of some of the most valuable planning opportunities. Proactive tax planning is the key to minimizing your tax. I’ve attached a copy of my most recent newsletter that contains some year-end tax saving ideas. In addition to the ideas in the newsletter, below is some additional information that I want to pass along.

Broker believes $5M Rye home will be catalyst for more Seacoast sales

Broker: Consumers more confident

 

Seacoast Online columnist Gina Carbone did an excellent piece on longtime  friend and colleague Lauren Stone ... This article speaks volumes about the luxury seacoast real estate market and Lauren herself... enjoy!  bf

 

This home at 7 Heather Drive in Rye recently sold for nearly $5 million.Bill Christo photography

 

By Gina Carbone

Seacoast Online

business@seacoastonline.com

December 20, 2009 2:00 AM

Are you in the market for a 7,000-square-foot three-story home right on the Wentworth by the Sea Country Club golf course featuring, among other amenities:

Four bedrooms, eight baths, separate delivery entrance, golf cart with its own garage, an elevator, wine bar and wine cellar, wiring and design for a home theater, 230-gallon saltwater aquarium, exercise suite with an infrared sauna and steam room with a pedicure whirlpool shower, two coffee bars, including a built-in cappuccino maker, cutting-edge technology and geothermal systems, waterfront views from virtually every room ...

And a solid marble 75-inch round Jacuzzi whirlpool tub with three removable headrest pillows and chromatherapy lighting, positioned to view the master bedroom television and beyond to Whaleback Lighthouse?

Too bad! It's taken.

Seacoast Home Sales Up, Prices Down

Very good article in today's Seacoast Online by Shir Haberman on the seacoast homes market...

Sales up, selling prices continue to decline

By Shir Haberman

shaberman@seacoastonline.com

December 18, 2009 2:00 AM

The good news is that here on the Seacoast more homes are selling more quickly than last year. The bad news is that they are selling for less.

'Retro 50's diner' approved

A 50's style diner has been approved at the location of the former Bickford's Restaurant on the Route 1 Bypass traffic circle in Portsmouth.

Seacoast Online

By Elizabeth Dinan

edinan@seacoastonline.com

December 16, 2009

PORTSMOUTH — The former Bickford’s Restaurant on the Route 1 Bypass traffic circle will reopen as a “retro 50’s diner,” tentatively named Roundabout restaurant.

Vision for Portsmouth debated

By Adam Leach
aleech@seacoastonline.com
December 14, 2009 2:00 AM
SeacoastOnline.com

Editor's note: This is the second in a two-part series on the question "How big can Portsmouth get and still be Portsmouth?" The first part ran in the Dec. 13 Seacoast Sunday.

PORTSMOUTH — As the head of the city's top policy-making board, as well as a lifelong resident, Mayor Tom Ferrini sees the issue on both ends. There is a need to make the city the best it can be from an economic perspective and there is a need to prevent the city's success from negatively affecting the quality of life of the people who live here.

Make it how big?

I thought this article was particularly interesting, and wanted to share it with you... the second part will be published tomorrow... bf

How to keep Portsmouth 'Portsmouth' stirs debate

By Adam Leech

aleech@seacoastonline.com

as seen in SeacoastOnline.com

December 13, 2009 2:00 AM

This is the first of two articles on the question "How big can Portsmouth get and still be Portsmouth?" The second will run in Monday's Portsmouth Herald.

John Hynes felt different. He felt it all around him. The city was changing before his eyes and he didn't like it.

The question was posed as a simple observation, while at the same time a thought-provoking inquiry to spark discussion on how the city should grow.

How big can Portsmouth get and still be Portsmouth?

If You Don't Buy a House Now, You're Stupid or Broke

Please forgive the housing market post... it's a good one!  bf

Interest rates are at historic lows but cyclical trends suggest they will soon rise. Home buyers may never see such a chance again, writes Marc Roth for Business Week.

Well, you may not be stupid or broke. Maybe you already have a house and you don't want to move. Or maybe you're a Trappist monk and have forsworn all earthly possessions. Or whatever. But if you want to buy a house, now is the time, and if you don't act soon, you will regret it. Here's why: historically low interest rates.

Survey: Local employment to stay flat in Q1

Boston Business Journal - by Craig M. Douglas

Employment in Greater Boston is expected to remain unchanged in the first quarter, as nearly three quarters of employers say they will maintain current staff levels through March 31.


The findings were based on a national, 28,000-employer survey conducted by Manpower Inc., a Milwaukee-based provider of employment services for businesses.

Maneuver on state tax shakes real estate industry

Tuesday, December 8, 2009
By Bob Sanders
NHBR


Alex Iskandar, chief executive of Lebanon Property Management, and his wife Bonnie are playing the same waiting game as other New Hampshire real estate investors on the state’s 1031 Exchange interpretation.

Iskandar, who has a Ph.D. in environmental science and worked for the Army Corps of Engineers for 25 years, purchased 320 acres of land with a farmhouse in Lebanon in 2000 for $1 million. After securing the necessary permits to develop the land, he sold it in 2005 at a $4 million profit.

New Maine Business Magazine To Hit Newsstands

New Maine business magazine to hit newsstands
SeacoastOnline.com
December 03, 2009 8:39 AM

BANGOR, Maine (AP) — Maine's newest statewide business magazine hits the newsstands in the coming days.

Maine Ahead says its goal is to improve the state's economy.

The premiere issue features question-and-answer interviews with five of the state's six living governors.

Besides being sold on newsstands, the magazine will be mailed to about 15,000 business executives around the state. It will be on newsstands by Monday.

Corcoran Launches New iPhone App

This is what's happening, folks... courtesy of Inman News, this story about a serious iPhone app for real estate is where things are headed... Get on the technology bandwagon or get out of the way... or out of the business... bf

Corcoran Launches New iPhone App 

New York-based broker Corcoran Group has launched a new iPhone application to help real estate consumers connect with properties.

The app is very well executed and joins StreetEasy and Redfin as among my favorite real estate apps.

Restaurant Watch:: Managing Cash Flow

What Every Restaurant Operator Should Know About Managing Cash Flow

For many restaurant owners one of the most perplexing and frustrating aspects of running their business is getting a handle on the ebbs and flows of their cash flow. All too often cash balances can be more than sufficient one week only to turn into a shortfall and potential overdraft situation the next.

Cash shortages can be a real distraction from productive activities. A cash deficit can be disruptive to operations if lack of payment threatens key deliveries and services. And never underestimate the damage to your reputation and credibility when your lenders and suppliers don't get paid in a timely and consistent manner.

Powow River Grille to close at year's end

Powow River Grille to close at year's end
By Lynne Hendricks
Staff Writer
Newburyport Daily News
http://viigo.im/1D1f

AMESBURY — After five years at its current riverfront location on Main Street, the popular Powow River Grille is bidding farewell to the town of Amesbury.

Restaurant owners Mark Friery and Francis Broadbery said they are paring down their restaurant operation to allow Friery to pursue a new business idea he's been planning for some time. While the two will continue to offer their unique brand of ethnic-inspired cuisine at the Powow's sister restaurant on Plum Island — the Plum Island Grille — the Powow River Grille will close at the end of the year.

Good Question! The Eight Best Questions We Got While Raising Venture Capital

Here's a great article written by Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin... bf

Good Question!
The Eight Best Questions We Got While Raising Venture Capital

For startups, Christmas comes in November. Partners come back from vacation in September and deals start closing a few months later; since the credit crisis deferred fund-raising for most of the past year, November 2009 will probably end up being especially busy.

Redfin is one of the companies that just closed a round. Already the process has resulted in a huge shift in our mindset: from just surviving to building a juggernaut . That shift is one every startup can try on for size, whether it needs capital or not, by asking itself the same basic questions that VCs asked us.
VCs are good at asking questions. They are unimplicated in your dumb decisions, unmoved by your original sense of mission and far less concerned than you that a blunder could bankrupt you. They re-imagine your business in terms of all the other businesses they’ve seen, pulling the arms off one doll and the head off another to create a perfect money-making Frankenstein. And since the stakes are high, the whole philosophical exercise tends to result in action.

Casino developer eyes table games at Rockingham Park

Casino developer eyes table games at Rockingham Park

http://viigo.im/1y4F

By MARK HAYWARD
New Hampshire Union Leader
Friday, Nov. 20, 2009

Manchester – While slot machines remain the focus of expanding gambling legislation, the middle of the gambling floor of a rebuilt Rockingham Park would be earmarked for table games such as roulette, blackjack and poker, the developer said last night.

William C. Wortman, a principal of Cannery Casino Resorts, said he wants the games of chance that now operate at Rockingham to continue.

Restaurant Business Watch :: Five dining predictions for 2010

Five dining predictions for 2010
http://viigo.im/1yuJ

By Mark Brandau
Nation's Restaurant News

Research firm Mintel predicts restaurants will get back to basics next year with a focus on such classic dishes as the hamburger. Denny's has already made a step in that direction with the introduction this fall of its Better Burger line.

CHICAGO (Nov. 20, 2009) Just as many households can expect to rebalance their finances or lifestyle expectations in 2010, the restaurant industry can expect to get back to basics as it recovers from a tumultuous 2009, according to research firm Mintel.

Millionaires are made in times like this :: Commercial Real Estate risk looms for local banks

Millionaires are made in times like this :: Commercial Real Estate risk looms for local banks http://viigo.im/1zZp

Boston Business Journal - by Tim McLaughlin

The concentration of commercial real estate loans at several Boston-area community banks have soared past thresholds that typically invite extra scrutiny from regulators, highlighting the amount of potential risk still percolating on the institutions’ books.

Executives at these banks say regulators have stepped up scrutiny of their portfolios amid gloom-and-doom forecasts about the commercial real estate market.

But Gerald Mulligan, chief executive of North Andover-based River Bank, said a commercial real estate loan on a three-family in the Merrimack Valley with strong cash flow is a lot different than a big city skyscraper losing corporate tenants.

“People think of commercial real estate and they see empty office towers in Houston,” Mulligan said “We don’t have any of this. Commercial real estate is a big concept. Some of it’s risky. Some of it isn’t.”

Goal Setting

Yesterday I asked my friends, clients and business associates about goal setting: Did they really do it, in business and personal life. I received many responses, all interesting, some surprising, and I also received this paper from my friend James, written by Brian Tracy. I hope you enjoy and get as much from this as I did. ~Bill Faulkner

GOALS!
By Brian Tracy

Success is goals and all else is commentary. This is the great discovery throughout all of human history. Your life only begins to become a great life when you clearly identify what it is that you want, make a plan to achieve it and then work on that plan every single day.

“The primary reason for failure is that people do not develop new plans to replace those plans that didn’t work.” (Napoleon Hill)

The three turning points in my life were these: First, I discovered that I was responsible for my life, and for everything that happened to me. I learned that this life is not a rehearsal for something else. This is the real thing. In every study of successful people, the acceptance of personal responsibility seems to be the starting point. Before that, nothing happens. After you accept complete responsibility, your whole life begins to change.

The second turning point for me, which came when I was 24 years old, was my discovery of goals. Without really knowing what I was doing, I sat down and made a list of 10 things I wanted to accomplish in the foreseeable future. I promptly lost the list. But 30 days later, my whole life had changed. Almost every goal on my list had already been achieved or partially achieved.

The third turning point in my life came when I discovered that “You can learn anything you need to learn to accomplish any goal you can set for yourself.” No one is smarter than you and no one is better than you. All business skills, sales skills and moneymaking skills are learnable. Everyone who is good in any area today was once poor in that area. The top people in every field were at one time not even in that field and didn’t even know that that field existed. And what hundreds of thousands of other people have done, you can do as well.

The Goal-Setting Process

1. Decide exactly what you want in every key area of your life.

Start off by Idealizing. Imagine that there are no limitations on what you can be, have or do. Imagine that you have all the time and money, all the friends and contacts, all the education and experience that you need to accomplish any goal you can set for yourself. Imagine that you could wave a magic wand and make your life perfect in each of the four key areas of life. If your life was perfect in each area, what would it look like?

1. INCOME – how much do you want to earn this year, next year and five years from today?
2. FAMILY – what kind of a lifestyle do you want to create for yourself and your family?
3. HEALTH – how would your health be different if it was perfect in every way?
4. NET WORTH – how much do you want to save and accumulate in the course of your working lifetime?

Three Goal Method – in less than 30 seconds, write down your three most important goals in life, right now. Write quickly. Whatever your answer to this “Quick List Method” way of writing three goals it is probably an accurate picture of what you really want in life.

2. Write it down.

Your goals must be in writing. They must be clear, specific, detailed and measurable. You must
write out your goals as if you were placing an order for your goal to be manufactured in a factory at a great distance. Make your description clear and detailed in every sense. Only 3% of adults have written goals, and everyone else works for them.

3. Set a deadline.

Your subconscious mind uses deadlines as “forcing systems” to drive you, consciously and unconsciously toward achieving your goal on schedule. If your goal is big enough, set sub-deadlines. If you want to achieve financial independence, you may set a 10 or 20-year goal, and then break it down, year by year, so that you know how much you have to save and invest each year. If for some reason you don’t achieve your goal by the deadline, simply set a new deadline. There are no unreasonable goals, only unreasonable deadlines.

4. Identify the obstacles that you will have to overcome to achieve your goal.

Why aren’t you already at your goal?
The Theory of Constraints – there is always one limiting factor or constraint that sets the speed at which you achieve your goal. What is it for you? The 80/20 Rule applies to constraints. Fully 80% of the reasons that are holding you back from achieving your goal are inside yourself. They are the lack of a skill, a quality or a body of knowledge. Only 20% of the reasons you are not achieving your goal are on the outside. Always start with yourself.

5. Identify the knowledge, information and skills you will need to achieve your goal.

Especially, identify the skills that you will have to develop to be in the top 10% of your field.
Greatest Discovery: Your weakest key skill sets the height of your income and your success. You can make more progress by going to work on the one skill that is holding you back more than any other. Key Question: “What one skill, if you developed and did it in an excellent fashion, would have the greatest positive impact on your life?” What one skill, if you developed and did it consistently, in an excellent fashion, would help you the most to achieve your most important goal? Whatever the skill, write it down, make a plan and work on it every single day.

6. Identify the people whose help and cooperation you will require to achieve your goal.

Make a list of every person in your life that you will have to work with or work around to achieve your goal. Start with the members of your family, whose cooperation and support you will require. List your boss, coworkers and subordinates. Especially, identify the customers whose support you will need to sell enough of your product or service to make the kind of money that you want.

Once you have identified the key people whose help you will require, ask yourself this question, “What’s in it for them?” Be a “go-giver” rather than a “go-getter.” To achieve big goals you will have to have the help and support of lots of people. One key person at a certain time and place in your life will make all the difference. The most successful people are those who build and maintain the largest networks of other people whom they can help and who can help them in
return.

7. Make a list of everything you will have to do to achieve your goal.

Combine the obstacles that you will have to overcome, the knowledge and skills you will have to
develop, and the people whose cooperation you will require. List every single step that you can think of that you will have to follow to ultimately achieve your goal. As you think of new items, add them to your list until your list is complete. When you make out a list of all the things you will need to do to achieve your goal, you begin to see that this goal is far more attainable than you thought. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” You can build the biggest wall in the world one brick at a time.

8. Organize your list into a plan. You organize this list by arranging the steps that you have identified by sequence and priority.

Sequence – what do you have to do before you do something else, and in what order?
Priority – what is more important and what is less important?

The 80/20 Rule says that 80% of your results will come from 20% of your activities. The 20/80 Rule says that the first 20% of time that you spend planning your goal and organizing your plan will be worth 80% of the time and effort required to achieve the goal. Planning is very important.

9. Make a plan. Organize your list into a series of steps from the beginning all the way through to the completion of your goal.

When you have a Goal and a Plan, you increase the likelihood of achieving your goals by 10 times, by 1000%!

• Plan each day, week and month in advance.
• Plan each month at the beginning of the month.
• Plan each week the weekend before.
• Plan each day the evening before.

The more careful and detailed you are when you plan your activities, the more you will accomplish in less time. The rule is that each minute spent in planning saves 10 minutes in execution. This means that you get a 1000% return on your investment of time in planning your days, weeks and months in advance.

10.Select your number one, most important task for each day.

Set priorities on your list using the 80/20 Rule. Ask yourself this question: “If I could only do one thing on this list, which one activity is most important?” Whatever you answer to that question, put a number “1” next to that activity. Then, ask yourself, “If I could only do one other task on this list, which one task would be the most valuable use of my time?” Then write a number “2” next to that task. Keep asking this question, “What is the most valuable use of my time on this list?” until you have your seven top tasks, organized by sequence and priority. Here is another question you can ask, “If I could only do one thing all day long, which one activity would contribute the most value to my work and to my goals?” Focus and Concentration are the keys to success. Focus means that you know exactly what it is that you want to accomplish and concentration requires that you dedicate yourself to doing only those things that move you toward your goal.

11.Develop the habit of self-discipline.

Once you have decided on your most important task, resolve to concentrate single-mindedly on
that one task until it is 100% complete. Your ability to select your most important task and then to work on it single mindedly, without diversion or distraction, will double and triple the quality and quantity of your output and your productivity. Single Handling is one of the most powerful of all time management techniques. This means that when you start with the task, you avoid all distractions and stay with that task until it is done. Once you have developed the habit of completing your tasks, you will earn two and three and even five times as much as other people.

12.Practice visualization on your goals.

Create clear, vivid, exciting, emotional pictures of your goals as if they were already a reality.
See your goal as though it were already achieved. Imagine yourself enjoying the accomplishment of this goal. If it is a car, imagine yourself driving this car. If it is a vacation, see yourself on the vacation already. If it is a beautiful home that you want, see yourself living in a beautiful home.

In visualizing, take a few moments to create the emotions that would accompany the successful achievement of your goal. A mental picture combined with an emotion has an enormous impact on your subconscious and your superconscious mind. Visualization is perhaps the most powerful faculty available to you to help you achieve your goals faster than you ever thought possible.

When you use a combination of clear goals, combined with visualization and emotionalization, you activate your superconscious mind. Your superconscious mind then solves every problem on the way to your goal. Your superconscious mind activates the Law of Attraction and begins attracting into your life people, circumstances, ideas and resources that will help you to achieve your goals even faster.

13.Goal-Setting Exercise

Take a clean sheet of paper and write the word “Goals” at the top of the page along with
today’s date. Discipline yourself to write out at least 10 goals that you would like to accomplish in the next year, or in the foreseeable future.

Begin each goal with the word “I.” Only you can use the word “I.” Follow the word “I” with an action verb that acts as a command from your conscious mind to your subconscious mind.

Describe your goals in the present tense, as though they had already been achieved. If your goal is to earn a certain amount of money in a certain year, you would say, “I earn this number of dollars by the end of this year.” If your goal is to get a new car, you would say, “I drive such and such a new car by such and such a date.” Finally, when you write down your goals, always write them in the positive tense. Instead of saying, “I will quit smoking,” you would say, “I am a non-smoker.” Always state your goals as though they were already a reality, as though you had already accomplished them. This activates your subconscious and superconscious minds to change your external reality so it is consistent with your inner commands.

14.Decide upon your major definite purpose.

Once you have written out a list of 10 goals, ask yourself this question, “If I could wave a magic wand and achieve any goal on this list within 24 hours, which one goal would have the greatest positive impact on my life?” Whatever your answer to that question, put a circle around that goal. Then, transfer the goal to the top of a clean sheet of paper.

1. Write it down clearly and in detail.
2. Set a deadline on your goal and set sub deadlines if necessary.
3. Identify the obstacles that you will have to overcome to achieve your goal, and identify the most important one, internal or external.
4. Identify the knowledge and skills you will need to achieve your goal, and the most important skill that you will have to become excellent in.
5. Identify the people whose help and cooperation you will require, and think about what you can do to deserve their help.
6. Make a list of everything you will have to do to achieve your goal. Add to the list as you think of new things to do.
7. Organize your list by sequence and priority, by what you have to do first, and by what is most
important.
8. Make a plan by organizing your list into steps from the fi rst to the last, and then resolve to take action on your plan, every single day.
9. Plan your goal in terms of the activities that you will have to engage in to achieve it, daily, weekly and monthly, in advance.
10. Set priorities on your list and identify the most important thing that you can do every single day to move most rapidly toward your goal.
11. Discipline yourself to concentrate single-mindedly on the most important thing that you can do today until it is 100% complete. Practice single-handling with every major task.

Conclusion

Resolve in advance that no matter what happens, you will never give up. Persistence is self-discipline in action. Each time you persist and overcome the inevitable failures and disappointments you will experience, you become stronger and better. You develop stronger and deeper character. You increase your self-esteem and self-confidence. Your goal is to eventually become “Unstoppable.” Decide exactly what you want, write it down, make a plan, and work on it every single day. If you do this over and over again until it becomes a habit, you will accomplish more in the next few weeks and months than many people accomplish in several years. Begin today.

Case Study:: The Customer Relationship Management Opportunity on Facebook

A very good article on eMarketer.com today further illustrating the business benefits to communicating your message on facebook... If you'd like to discuss, I'm always available at bill@BillFaulkner.com ... bf

The Customer Relationship Management Opportunity on Facebook
By: Clark Fredricksen

Rahim Fazal, CEO of social media application company Involver, says the businesses should assign more value to consumer interactions in social media, and measure the impact over the long term, not just during a promotion. Key quote from the full interview on eMarketer Total Access:

Mr. Fazal: It’s really important to recognize that the activities happening on social networks require special attention and a very personal contextualized approach for marketers. It’s unlike the approach that we as a marketing community have taken over the past decade, where we’ve extended the television model of impressions to banner ads for websites.

In social networking sites, the behavior is really dictated by the users, like playing games or sharing photos or videos with friends, or writing comments about a news article. It’s important for us as marketers to think about how we can support that activity.

Rather than trying to figure out how to advertise to our customers, it’s more important to figure out how to provide tools to our fans, so that they can advertise to their friends about us.

eMarketer: I see a lot of marketers on Facebook using a coupon or promotion to drive more people to become fans. But once a brand has accumulated fans, the next step is crucial. What can marketers do to help get to that next step?

Mr. Fazal: Marketers need to think about the bigger potential of Facebook as a customer relationship management opportunity. I think that is where all of these efforts lead to. For example, our client Us Weekly has been around for decades, and they have a very large following. And that following has traditionally been communicated with through direct mail, or more recently, through their Website.

However, as more of their subscriber activity has transitioned over to social networking sites such as Facebook, they’ve found it important to maintain engagement with that community there. And so when they started working with Involver back in April, they had 2,700 fans. Today, they have more than 270,000 fans. So it’s growth of a couple magnitudes mainly driven by various social media applications that met both the objectives of distribution and engagement. Now it’s leading to a broader opportunity, which is developing relationships.

I’ll give you an example. The base of 270,000 fans on Facebook is a very active one, in terms of their engagement metrics. There’s a high level of frequency. And Us Weekly has done a fantastic job in really maintaining the interactions with those fans.

Us Weekly is now translating it to real measurable business value, where they’ll post a couple of examples of cover photos for an upcoming issue and actually have fans comment on them. Or they’ll put various stories or photos or pieces of content that the editorial staff is interested in building a story around, and push it out to the Facebook fan page to gather input. Ultimately that is becoming a meaningful source of information for editorial decision-making.